Skip to main content
The King of Wuxia film image, director Lin Jing-jie

The King of Wuxia

Da Xia Hu Jin Quan / 大俠胡金銓

This event has passed

International Premiere

Lin Jing-Jie’s doc is a detailed, deeply poignant tribute to one of history’s great filmmakers. King Hu (1932-1997) was a consummate film artist—a sure hand not only at directing, but also drawing, calligraphy, acting, and other arts. Lin assembles actors, choreographers, critics, scholars, producers, fellow directors, and others who knew and loved Hu; their tributes and analyses form a mosaic-like depiction.

Part I is centred on Hu as an artist, with wide-ranging discussion of masterpieces like Dragon Inn (1967) and A Touch of Zen (1971). Cast and crew members reveal the master’s grasp of film production in its many facets, while directors such as John Woo, Tsui Hark, and Ann Hui discuss the fully realized films. Part II is more biographical, taking us through a life which took Hu from China to Hong Kong, and Taiwan to California, where his unrealized final film was to be set. Lin’s film is a beautiful tribute to a wonderful man, and a must-see for lovers of East Asian cinema.

 

Presented by

 

Media Partner

Stir Logo CHMB AM1320 logo

Community Partner

Director
Credits
Country of Origin

Taiwan

Year

2022

Language

Mandarin

Film Contact
Links
18+
220 min
Documentary

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

The Things You Kill

Dir. Alireza Khatami
113 min

Thirty-something professor Ali leads an apparently stable life. But when his ailing mother dies under ambiguous circumstances, he starts to unravel, resulting in an act that shatters our understanding of his person.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Silver Screamers

Dir. Sean Cisterna
94 min

In this funny, touching doc, a group of retirees are persuaded to get off the couch and make a horror movie about a killer rug...

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Ghost Elephants

Dir. Werner Herzog
99 min

Everyone's favourite German adventurer, Werner Herzog goes on the hunt for the largest land mammal on the planet, the fabled "ghost elephant" of the Angolan highlands -- that may, or may not, exist.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Miroirs No. 3

Dir. Christian Petzold
86 min

Following a car crash that kills her boyfriend, piano student Laura is physically unhurt but emotionally distraught. A local woman takes her in, but she gradually realizes she's in the midst of an eerie, mysterious family situation.

Image: © Schramm Film A4 Kopie

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

A Tribe Called Love

Dir. Mohamed Ahmed
95 min

Set in a Somali neighbourhood in Toronto, Mohamed Ahmed's film follows teenagers Farah and Halima as they fall in love despite warnings to stay apart because they're from different tribes

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Erika Chow + Blue Giant

Dir. Yuzuru Tachikawa
180 min

Revered pianist Hiromi Uehar composed the score for this electrifying jazz anime, about a young man who wants to be the next John Coltrane. Before the film, tenor sax Erika Chow will lead a quartet through selections from the soundtrack.

Image: © 2023 BLUE GIANT Movie project ©2013 Shinichi Ishizuka, Shogakukan

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Credits

Producer

Hsu Hui-lin, Steven Tu

Cinematography

Tan Heong-song

Editor

Lin Jing-jie, Shih Chien-yu

Original Music

Sky Lee, Weng La-fa

Director

Lin Jing-jie headshot, The King of Wuxia director

Lin Jing-jie

Lin Jing-jie’s work has been honoured at the Asia Pacific Film Festival and the Golden Horse Awards. He received the International Critics’ Week Award at the Venice Film Festival with his 2007 film The Most Distant Course.

Filmography: The Most Distant Course (2007); The Man Behind the Book (2011); Dear Mother Earth (2011); Elena (2014)